Summer in Abaddon
by Eppie's Diner
Summary: The Gleeful twins are beautiful, charming, and hiding a very dark secret. When Gideon Pines is sent to Gravity Falls to help his Grunkle Bud at the Mystery Shack, he meets a quirky Pacifica and finds a secret book full of the same dark magic. When the Gleefuls catch wind that Gideon has something they need, things start to get nasty. Reverse!AU Rated T for blood, gore, and language
1. This Red Book

Mabel had originally wanted the color of their performance outfits to be dark shades of crimson red.

Of course, Dipper knew that idea was completely terrible in a numerous amount of ways. Though, he didn't really expect any practical or logical ideas from his sister.

His sister was, in her own irrational definition, a sadist or at least acted like she was one. If it were up to her, she would most likely propose that the outfits would undoubtedly be dyed red with blood.

Dipper often thought Mabel tried way too hard, she didn't need to continually boast about her self-proclaimed "darkness". They were both still, beyond any shadow of a doubt, human. It was much more unfortunate for Dipper, surprisingly. He had wanted nothing more that to become holy in his own grand delusion of power.

Dipper had always been very ambitious.

They finally compromised on a cyan and dark blue color pattern. It was a lot less... _alarming._

In a way, less menacing.

Dipper explained that blue was much more fun and upbeat type of color. This seemed to convince Mabel of the color scheme as well.

It also matched the vivid sea green color of their clairvoyant amulets; the one and only source of their magical abilities.

Their magic show last night had been a huge success as always; a full house. They were a huge tourist attraction to the small and otherwise, boring town of Gravity Falls. In fact, most of the town's revenue came in from the shows they did.

**"Come and see the **_**Telepathic Twins**_**, the eighth wonder of the world!"**

The town billboards would proclaim enthusiastically. Not that there was anything false about that, the shows were undeniably stunning and the magic was indeed, very real.

The show was a hit and the twins had brought in the big bucks, like they did every time.

They celebrated their successful show with utmost vigor and eventually after their father, Stan, "accidentally" fell asleep on the living room couch, they ended the evening in lowered voices and giddy whispers into the darkness as they headed down to their basement to play.

Dipper lit the candles surrounding the Holy Table, he grabbed the Red Book from off of the many shelves in the basement, shelves filled with many strange and spiritual items; crystal balls, incantation books, incense burners, various jars filled with unrecognizable and unpleasant contents, and many other odds and ends that the siblings had used for their rituals. Dipper brought the book to the Holy Table and flipped it open to one of the pages that had the incantations for summoning the spirits. The book was a faded red; ripped and torn. On the front cover of the book there was no title, only a six-fingered hand with a giant number two written in the middle of it. They had come across the book a few years ago when exploring the wooded area nearby.

The book had given them all the knowledge they needed about communicating with the spirits and the paranormal. It was hand-written entirely; hidden in the woods on purpose the twins had guessed, a person who had been tortured by the vast amount of dark knowledge he had come across. When the siblings first found it, they were amazed at all the powers they could possess just by following what the book told them to do.

_"A revelation," _Dipper had called it. He was the most inspired by the book; all the mysteries and the _secrets_. Mabel had been very reluctant, but once they had created the mystical amulets and she had heard the spirits with her very own ears, she had ceased her complaining.

They were told what they had to do in order to become all-powerful; _god-like _even. Dipper drank this information with lustful and earnest eyes, for Dipper was always very scrupulous in everything they did; always wanting to please the spirits. It frightened Mabel sometimes, as brave as she was. After they had first began studying the book, discovering all the dark and dangerous secrets of Gravity Falls, Dipper began to become more detached and more overbearing of Mabel; he became paranoid.

_"We can't tell anyone about this, Mabel! Nobody! You hear?"_

_"I swear, Dipper. I won't tell anyone, I promise!"_

_"I-I can't believe you. You could turn against me, I know you would!"_

_"Dipper I-"_

_"You don't trust me? Your brother? We could have it all, Mabel. Don't you understand that? We can have everything we ever wanted."_

_"You're scaring me-"_

_"Sc-scaring you? You should be afraid, just look at all this power I can have- WE can have!"_

_"STOP IT!"_

_"I'll know if you rat me out, Mabel. I'll SENSE it! You think that I'll forgive you and let it slide because we're blood-related, but I WON'T."_

Mabel could remember screaming for her brother to stop. She could remember him lifting her in the air with the amulet's power, the look of deluded hysteria glazed eagerly over his face had been engraved into her mind. It was the very first time in her life that she believed her dear brother, Dipper was actually capable of killing her.

He came to his senses, of course. Mabel eventually came to hers, as well.

They submitted.

They became duteous and obedient devotees of the paranormal spirits that spoke in their minds.

And they did everything the spirits asked of them; everything the book instructed carefully.

It was the most difficult for Mabel, providing that she thought messing with the underworld was a dangerous idea altogether.

_"We're playing with fire."_ She would tell him.

_"Be quiet and hold the knife for me, will you?"_ He would often reply.

After their sixth ritual, the cries of the animals they sacrificed no longer troubled her. After their twelfth ritual, she felt nothing. After their twenty-third ritual, she began to enjoy it.

_"What if they find out on their own, Dipper? This town is small, people will become suspicious when they notice all their cats and dogs have gone missing..."_

_"They won't think it's us, I've been planning this for the last week. The people here, they aren't very bright. Me- US on the other hand, we are brilliant. We can have them all in the palm of our hand..."_

_"Just like the amulets?"_

_"EXACTLY like the amulets. Here's what we do..."_

Hence, the Tent of Telepathy was created. The Gleeful Twins charmed and amazed everyone in the town. People passing through would see their shows and tell everyone back home, making the twins a popular attraction nation-wide. Good thing most of the people who saw them didn't believe in a lick of magic. They were safe and so was their secret.

Mabel presented her right palm, facing upward, to the center of the star engraved into the table. As Dipper finished lighting the last of the candles, he flipped open his pocket knife that he pulled out from the breast pocket of his uniform.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Mabel?" He hesitated, grabbing a hold of Mabel's wrist with his free hand. "I can give the blood offer this time."

"No, you did it last time, it's only fair. Don't try to be such a martyr, sheesh." His sister replied.

"I'll be gentle, dear sister." Her brother laughed.

"Dork," She smirked. "Just make it quick, okay?"

Dipper inhaled deeply and ran the knife swiftly across his sister's open palm. She winced at the pain and her teeth dug into her lower lip. The blood pooled quickly in her palm and she turned her hand over, allowing the blood to drip onto the center of the star. Dipper grabbed his sister's unscathed hand and with his other he held the Red Book, opened on the page full of chants. They began to speak simultaneously in the tongues of the infernal spirits.

_O, great dark spirits,_

_We offer our blood sacrifice_

_To display our loyalty _

_To the forces of the great beyond._

Their amulets began to glow, surrounding them in an aura of light green. The glow began to lift them slightly off their feet and the levitated only a few inches above the ground. The siblings smiled together as they felt the supernatural energy course through their veins, the spirits were pleased with them.

_Your loyalty has been highly regarded._

The ungodly demon tone bellowed thickly into their ears.

_You shall transcend._

The twins' eyes began to re-color in the same greenish glow.

"Yes." Dipper expelled along with a short breath.

The siblings spoke again.

_Thank you._

The light surged powerfully through the their bodies allowing the aura to engulf them completely and causing them to quaver rapidly in midair. The pain was intense and sharp; Mabel let out a high yelp in a disconcerted mixture of both fear and pleasure; they both shortly passed out. The light stopped and a short breeze passed through them; extinguishing the candles and allowing the smoke to wisp throughout the darkened room.

_Don't mention it..._

The air grew chill and thin in the depths of the basement.

Dipper Gleeful, aged sixteen years, woke up abruptly in the early hours of the morning. His neck ached badly as he sat up on the cold basement floor. He figured it was early in the morning, actually, he _knew_ it was early morning. He looked over to see his sister sprawled face-down across the hard concrete floor; her hair splayed in all directions covering her face in an array of chestnut curls and waves. He stretched his neck and reached for his amulet. It felt cool in his hand; prophetic. He squeezed his hand around it once more to feel its power.

His hand had been outlined in a sea of green wisps.

_Nothing feels different yet._

He frowned slightly and furrowed his brows. He then felt a sudden pounding in his head.

_Headache... bad. No- headache good. It worked! We advanced._

Dipper quickly rose to his feet, he felt the muscles in his calves ache terribly. Grimacing, he limped quickly over to Mabel and shook her awake.

"Mabel! We did it!" He rasped, his throat was incredibly dry.

"Whu- whadwedo?" Mabel mumbled in a half-awake daze, wiping the drivel off her chin with her sleeve.

"We transcended! We're stronger now, the dark spirits have blessed us and we're closer now." Dipper could no longer hide his excitement. He grinned vibrantly, showing all of his teeth.

"Closer to what?" Mabel began to wake up, feeling the intense ache in her head.

"Sanctity, Mabel!_ Divinity!_" He paced around the room, his voice quivering with anticipation.

"Oh yeah, that junk," Mabel buried her head in her hands, the pain was unbearable. "Hey Dip, since we're like demigods now, can you use your _dark, holy _powers to make my forehead feel like it's not about to _SPLIT OPEN_?"

"I'm loving the enthusiasm, dear sister," He replied. "We should definitely see if our abilities have broadened."

Dipper clutched the amulet around his neck, surrounding his sister and himself in its dark glow. Without second thought, he began to speak fluently and wildly in tounges.

The pain shot through Mabel's head like the crack of whip, she cried out.

"AUUUGH! DIPPER, STOP! SHIT!" She shrieked, clutching her head violently.

The green disappeared, and Dipper's eyes returned to their usual light blue shine. He looked down at his sister with a feeling of almost empathy.

"Well?" He couldn't help but smile again, despite his sister's distress.

Mabel let out a stream of laughter.

"Christ, you're so over-dramatic, I swear." He rolled his eyes.

Mabel continued to laugh savagely, rising to her feet, facing away from her brother.

"Mabel, stop it. You're being ridiculous."

Mabel turned to her brother, her eyes were bloodshot. Her smiled burned eerily into her skin, as if unnatural.

"I can't believe it..." She looked down at her feet, still in her black leggings. "We finally did it. You- you actually cured my headache... with the _amulet_. Who knows..."

"What else we can do?" Dipper smiled, finishing his sister's sentence.

Mabel let out another rush of giggles, her eyes burning the same vivid, foreboding blue.


	2. Sender

Gideon Pines looked out the backseat window of the moving vehicle with an unchanging expression of boredom, the window faintly reflected the expression back at him.

His baseball cap set snugly over his head of thick, white hair. His freckles burning mockingly on the cheeks of his pale and pasty face. He hated those freckles.

This wasn't what he had planned for his summer, not in the slightest.

His parents insisted that he needed to spend time away from home, make some new friends and all that. Gideon would have chosen anything over spending the summer in some random small town, helping out his overly upbeat uncle, Buddy, with his weird mystery store.

Gideon was only fifteen, so he didn't really have a say in his parents' final decision. They loaded him onto the transit bus and sent him to Gravity Falls with one case of luggage and whatever he had collected in his savings jar.

He stared out at the passing pine trees, consuming his view in a dark forest green.

He turned on his gameboy and began to play a game of tetris. He glanced at the old man snoring in the seat next to him, saliva pooling in the corner of his mouth. The boy figured he was much to old to have _his_ parents send him away for the summer.

He let out a laugh at the very thought as he turned his eyes back on his game console.

They were heading into the town, it would only be a few minutes before Gideon would be able to stretch his legs and fall asleep in a bed finally.

Hopefully, Uncle Bud had a bed for him to sleep in...

As Gideon arranged the falling blocks in his game, making sure each piece fit well, his mind began to wander.

_It can't be THAT bad here. I'm sure there will be kids my age here._

_Maybe I can make some new friends while I'm here!_

_That's a good thing, right?_

The view was nice, Oregon was a very beautiful state. The nature was alive and vivid, the trees were tall, healthy, and green with life, and the lakes were crystal clear. Gideon always had a love for the outdoors, when he wasn't playing video games or reading, anyway.

_There will be a lot to explore._

The white-haired boy felt a twinge of excitement in his stomach, then another of apprehension.

The bus was almost at his stop.

He stared out the window again at all the stores and houses in the town. His parents were right, it was a small town.

There were a few restaurants and a big supermarket that was probably the only one in the entire town. He looked at the small houses, the tourist attractions. Nothing too special, nothing too out of the ordinary. For such a small town, why would there be so many tourist-focused stores? The town was so tiny and probably only had a population of around a hundred people. He glanced at the huge passing billboard.

**Welcome to Gravity Falls!**

As the bus passed by it, he saw another advertisement on the back of the billboard.

A picture of two kids about his age, twins probably, wearing outfits with matching patterns of dark and light blue. The boy had an interesting sea green brooch around under the collar of his cyan button-up shirt along with a unique dotted birth mark in the middle of his forehead. The girl smiling beside him had a matching piece clipped onto her headband, her hair fell all the way down to the hips of her black skirt. They're eyes both shone the same piercing blue.

_Telepathic Twins? Eighth wonder of the world?_

_Magicians, I'm guessing. This is probably what all the tourism is for._

Gideon shifted in his seat as the bus headed into the woods past the giant water tower, away from the main town area. As the bus drove through the tunnel of trees, he looked out into the woods. There was pine trees for miles, that meant tons of exploring and many opportunities to get lost. He looked out the window across from his row and saw a great lake. A few fishing boats were sitting on the water, the families on them were probably having a grand old-time.

The boy began to feel homesick already. He realized that he wouldn't see his parents for two whole months, he wouldn't see any of his friends back at home either.

The bus finally slowed and Gideon was snapped out of his melancholy trance by the hiss of the bus brakes.

Gideon looked at the still-asleep elderly man beside him, he sighed and tapped him on his shoulder.

"Hrrrwhaa?" The old man looked up, startled. "Are we in Seattle yet?"

"No sir," The white-haired boy replied. "I need to get up, this is my stop."

The man grumbled and got out of his seat slowly.

Gideon reached for his luggage up in the shelf above their seat, he swung the strap of his luggage bag over his shoulder, thanked the old man, and headed off of the bus.

As he climbed down the stairs of the bus, he felt consumed in the trees. All he could see for miles were trees, with the exception of the lake and the single winding road. He looked out at the place he would be staying for the next two months.

**The Mystery Shack**

The sign on the side of the small house-shaped building. This was definitely it, this was Uncle Bud's weird business that he was so passionate about. The freckle-faced boy carried his bag into the small store along with a small handful of eager tourists, clicking their cameras excitedly.

_What drew them here?_

_Why of all places in the world would they want to stop HERE?_

He entered the shop and was greeted with various amounts of question mark printed items: tee-shirts, snow globes, bobble heads, magnets, post cards, and all kinds of other things that tourists freak out over. All of them were expensively priced.

_Thirty dollars for one magnet?_

Some people just never change; old habits die hard. Uncle Bud was one of those people. He was always incredibly kind and soft spoken, someone you would expect people to walk all over. This was probably how he tricked people into buying such useless items. Complement their hair, they'll buy a magnet. Tell them they look well for their age, they'll buy a tee-shirt. It was all a scheme, a perfect swindle. And it worked. It worked very well and very gracefully. It was almost an _art_ if one observed it for long enough.

At the register was a red-haired young woman, she seemed only a couple of years older than Gideon. She had freckles peppered over her cheeks as well, though they seemed to fit her a lot better than his did. She looked very nice, her hair tied up in a neat bun, a pair of reading glasses hooked snugly on the bridge of her nose as her eyes were focused on the book in her lap since there was nobody purchasing anything at the register at the moment. Her expression was one painted of listless indifference, in other words, she looked very bored.

Gideon walked over to her, adjusting his cap.

"Hello, I'm Gideon Pines, Uncle Bud's nephew." He started nervously as the red-head glanced up from her book with a faint irritation. "I'm going to be staying with you guys for-"

"I don't actually work here," She said mechanically, turning her focus back on to her book. "I'm just watching the register for my boyfriend while he's running an errand."

"Oh... Well, do you happen to know where Buddy might be?"

"I don't keep track of that creep." She said, not looking up.

"Errr... okay, do you know when your boyfriend might be back-"

"Look, kid. If you're just going to keep bugging me, at least buy a damn sticker or something so you don't waste my time completely."

_Yeesh._

Gideon exhaled in frustration and walked over to one of the shelves full of overpriced snow globes. He looked around the store, there was only a few people in here; a young couple ogled at coffee mugs, an old man looked through the rack of various sweaters and zip-up jackets, and a mother whispered harshly at her child who was throwing a tantrum because she wouldn't buy him a seventy-dollar stuffed animal. The white-haired boy sighed, this was going to be a long summer for him, he could just feel it.

"And finally, we have reached the end of our Mystery Tour!" A voice called in from the back entrance of the store. "I hope y'all enjoyed it, and I would be much obliged if you gave the souvenir shop a look around! We're a small store and we don't got much, but we do the best for you guys!"

A large man in a large tuxedo outfit and ominous-looking fez cap came out from behind the beaded curtain of the back store, followed by around five or six tourists. His side-burns were very large and he looked surprisingly young for his age, being an uncle and all.

"Hey Uncle Bud!" Gideon waved, walking over to him.

"Do my eyes deceive me? Is that my favorite nephew, Gideon?" He drawled, smiling as he hugged him.

"Oh my goodness, you have grown so much!" He said, ruffling the boy's white-hair. "Last time I saw you, you were just starting second grade!" He chuckled.

"Yeah, it's been a while." Gideon replied.

"Well, I can guarantee you that you will have barrels of fun staying here with your best uncle!" Uncle Bud exclaimed, leading Gideon into the house part of the Mystery Shack.

"Well, I'm curious now," Gideon said. "What is so special about this town? Why do so many people come here?"

"Ah, I thought you'd never ask," His uncle smiled as he spoke. "This town has been said to be a mystery, there have been hundreds of reports of strange things happening here. People have claimed to have spoken to the paranormal, there have been dozens of missing person reports in this town alone, people have claimed to have spotted giants, talking animals, gnomes, sea monsters, and even Sasquatch! A lot of people don't believe these myths, but they're what I live for and that's why I wanted to start a business around here. Even if it is a little... _exaggerated._"

They walked up the stairs into a small room at the top of the house.

"This is where you'll be stayin', Gideon."

"Have you ever seen anything out of the ordinary, Uncle Bud?" The white-haired boy asked, setting his bag on the upstairs bed.

Uncle Bud paused, a sudden tenseness overtook him.

"Well yes," He gulped. "But those are stories for another time!" He quickly finished as he headed out of the room.

Gideon looked out of the small, triangular window of his room. The trees stretched out for miles, longing to be explored.

The boy let out a yawn, he was exhausted from his long trip and wanted nothing more than to take a nice nap. But the sun was still out, though it was late afternoon. He figured there was still a little bit of time to explore the new area.

_I wonder what cool stuff I can find out there? _

Gideon felt a wave of excitement flow through him as he hurried down the stairs to get some fresh air.

As he headed quickly out of the front of the store he saw the red-headed girl on the porch outside, she was talking the a dark-haired boy. He was wearing a green plaid shirt, his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, he smiled at Gideon.

"Ah, you must be Gideon!" He turned to the boy holding out his hand, his red-hair friend rolled her eyes.

"Yes, that's me." The white-haired boy shook his hand.

"My name's Robert, you can call me Robbie, though. I work here at the shack, it's nice to see a new face around here."

"Nice to meet you, Robbie."

"Likewise! Oh, and this is my girlfriend, Wendy." Robbie turns to her, she smiled.

"We have already met." She glanced down at Gideon with a small scowl before turning her attention back to Robbie, a complete change of expression.

"Oh, awesome! Hey, be careful in those woods, Gideon. They say weird stuff happens out there." He glanced out in the distance. "If you stray from the main trail, you will most likely get lost."

Gideon laughed.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful!" He headed out past the totem pole near the bus stop. "It was nice meeting you!"

"Same here, kiddo! See you around." Robbie called out before turning back to talk to Wendy.

Gideon began to head into the woods, the green stretched for miles as he headed down the dirt trail. There were many signs nailed to the trees; arrows pointing to the Mystery Shack.

_I guess that's one way to advertise._

He looked up, the sun was beginning to set. He headed deeper into the woods, he regretted not taking his flashlight.

_Wow, I wonder how big these woods really are? _

_I bet if I walk long enough, I'll end up in some lost civilization._

_Now, THAT would be really cool!_

Gideon felt his foot catch on something.

"AUGH!" He shouted before falling flat on his face. His yell echoed throughout the woods, hopefully he didn't disturb any of the "magical creatures" that might be lurking in these parts.

He stood up and brushed the dirt off his shirt and shorts.

_Scraped knees and face. Great._

_Just how I wanted to start off the summer._

He looked behind him and saw a tree root.

"Stupid tree." He muttered before giving the nearby tree a swift kick.

_CLANG!_

"What?" He walked over and knocked on the tree.

_BANG BANG!_

It was hollow and it was cold. In fact, it wasn't even a tree. It was metal!

Gideon hit the tree again; another clang followed. He walked over and brushed the coat of dirt around the tree. A small door appeared. He dug his nails in the crack of the door trying to pry it open. It creaked open, cobwebs clung to it desperately. Inside of the tree truck was a small metal box, old and cracked. There was a small screen on the front, the rest of the front was covered in various buttons. The boy clicked one of the two levers at the top.

Nothing happened.

He clicked the other one.

A loud mechanic sound whirred behind him. Startled, he turned around quickly. A trap door had opened up, Gideon slowly walked toward the trap door and hesitantly looked down, fearing something horrid might crawl out and grab him.

It was only a book, thickly covered in dust and cobwebs. He reached down cautiously and pulled the book free from the cobwebs. Blowing the dust off of the cover, it was ripped and torn and a faded crimson color.

_Oh my God._

He opened the book carefully to the first page and began to read.

_"June 18,_

_It's hard to believe it's been six years since I began studying the strange and wondrous secrets of Gravity Falls, Oregon._

_In all my travels, never have I observed so many curious things! Gravity Falls is indeed a geographical oddity."_

He flipped through the pages; floating eyeballs, gnomes, various symbols and hurried scribblings. He read another page.

_"Unfortunately, my suspicious have been confirmed, I'm being watched. _

_I must hide this book before He finds it._

_Remember- In Gravity Falls, there is no one you can trust._

_**TRUST NO ONE!**__"_

"Mabel!" A strange voice called close in the distance.

Gideon snapped up at the sound and his heart began to race even quicker. He quickly closed the book and tucked it under his arm. It was getting dark.

A sharp and feminine giggle pierced his ears.

"What is it Dippy?" Another laugh. "You 'fraid I might find the book without you?"

Gideon's grip tightened around the book, he needed to get out of here _now_.

He walked quickly back up the trail, heading back to the Mystery Shack.

"No, Mabel," The other voice replied. "I was just making sure you didn't get lost."

"You're so adorable, Dipper. Thinking that I'd get lost in _these _woods? How kind of you to watch out for your dear sister." The girl's voice replied.

Gideon quickened his pace, these people sounded like trouble. And they mentioned a book, most likely referring to the one he was carrying under his arm.

"Yes, always trying to look out for you," The voice again. "Now, where did the spirits tell you the book was exactly?"

"They said to look in the trees," Mabel knocked on one of the many trees. "This one isn't it."

"We don't have all day for this nonsense!"

"Well, if you wanna get technical, the day is just about over anyway."

"Mabel-"

"Wait!" Mabel wrapped her hand around the amulet on her headband. "I _sense_ something."

Gideon's breath caught in his throat, he broke into a sprint.

"About time."

"We're close, they tell me we are."

"Good, let's look around the area."

Another laugh.

"Ooh, Dipper! They tell me we're not the only ones here, either..." Her smile began to broaden, her grip tightening on her glowing amulet.

Her brother returned the grin and wrapped his fingers around his own amulet, it was always fun to play with friends.


	3. Bloods on Fire

The pine trees blended into a blur of darkened green.

Gideon's legs began to burn as he used the last of his adrenaline-fueled energy to sprint again. The woods seemed never-ending, which made no sense since he never strayed from the trail. He felt blood rush to his face, all over his body he felt his blood race. There was no way he could go this fast for much longer, but he was terrified. Whoever those two people out there were, they were looking for the book and they knew he was there.

"Where are they, Mabel?" Dipper asked, his amulet in a brilliant green incandescence. "Perhaps we should give them a little reminder that things often go _bump_ in the night."

"Maybe if we levitate over the trees, we can find our new friend faster?"

"Ah, brilliant idea, Mabel! If only I had thought of it first." He grinned smugly as they rose into the air, outlined in their magic glow.

Gideon could see the lights of the Mystery Shack as reached the clearing, he sighed in relief as he slowed his pace. He jogged up to the Mystery Shack porch, his heart still racing. The book was still clutched feverishly under his arm.

Mabel glided over the tops of the pine trees with a frenzied expression growing quickly across her face.

"Hmmm, I don't see anyone." Mabel frowned, looking over the abundance of forest.

"Ah, forget about them. Probably just some lost tourist or what not," Something caught Dipper's eye. "Mabel!"

"What."

"Mabel, come over here I found something!" He lowered back to the ground, in front of his feet was a large square opening in the middle of the forest floor.

Mabel lowered to the ground beside her brother. She placed her hands on her knees and leaned over to peer into the opening. She looked behind her at the tree behind them. She walked over and examined it.

"Dipper," She waved him over. "Look.

Dipper let out a shallow breath and followed Mabel over to the tree, using the glow of his amulet to light up the path. He stood by his sister, amulet in his hand and noticed the opening.

"What the-" He elbowed his sister out of the way to get a better look at the opening.

"_OUCH!_ Dipper, you're such a prick!"

"No..." Ignoring his sister's comment, he lit up the opening. A small cracked metal box was all there was to see.

He pressed the buttons frantically, nothing. He flipped the first switch, nothing. He flipped the second switch, a mechanic whirr cause Dipper to turn.

The opening closed up.

"Let me look!" Mabel shoved her brother away. She flicked the switch again. The opening appeared. She walked back to the opening and kneeled to look down into it. There was nothing except a mess of cobwebs, dirt, and a thick layer of dust. All with the exception of the large rectangular outline in the middle. Mabel felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach.

"Oh no..." Mabel stood up quickly, brushing the dirt from her knees.

"What is it?" Dipper turned for the odd machine in the tree trunk. "Did you find something?"

"No," Mabel felt herself grown cold, she felt sick. "Worse. I didn't find anything. But.."

"No."

"I think someone else found the book."

"_No!" _Dipper gave his sister a hard shove before running back to the opening. Mabel's back slammed against the hard dirt ground, her breath expelling as she let out another yelp.

"_Shit!_" Dipper lit up the opening, nothing but the book outline. He turned back to Mabel. "Get up."

Mabel sat defiantly on the ground, angry at her brother's sudden rashness. He can have such mood swings sometimes, it was irritating.

"Mabel, someone has the third book," He brother leaned over her. "We have to find them."

"It was probably that person I sensed earlier," Mabel huffed, crossing her arms. "If _you _hadn't stopped us, we could have caught them and the book would have been ours!" Mabel rose to her feet, her face tinted crimson. The sun was just about gone and soon only the moon would provide them light. Her amulet illuminated her look of disgust vibrantly.

"_You're_ always trying to take the lead! She jabbed her finger in Dipper's chest accusingly. "_You're_ always making the decisions! And you think _you _can just push me around because _you're_ mad that we failed and that _you _couldn't please the spirits by finding the damn book! But if _you_ had just listened to _me _for one _goddamn _minute-"

She was surrounded in a glow and levitated into the air by her brother.

"Mabel, calm down. I can fix all of this, you're being irrational." He said, evening his tone with some difficulty. He held the amulet tightly in his hand.

Mabel grabbed her amulet and broke from the aura holding her, she floated up to one of the higher branches of a nearby pine tree and sat.

"There you go again, Dipper. '_I_ can fix all this, _you're_ being irrational.' Do you know how stupid and controlling you sound?" She crossed her legs. "I'm so tired of it. We're twins, I am _not _your little sister, you do _not_ have to look after me." Her eyes narrowed as she finished her sentence.

Dipper felt his face grow warm, this was just absurd. He let out a sigh before looking up at his sister who was swinging her legs playfully off of the tree branch.

"Yes, I do!" He called up furiously. "You're unstable on your own! You need me to keep you in line. In fact, if it wasn't for me you would have been caught and sent to an asylum by now! You think you can handle these things on your own but you can't and I _know_ you can't!

"You're disgusting." She spat back at him. "Let's remember who actually found the book in these woods four years ago. Who was that? Oh, right it was ME!" She floated down onto the forest floor, her green vapors swirling behind her, aggravated.

"Don't make me laugh, you didn't even know what to do with that book!" Dipper seethed, venom in his voice. "You know why, Mabel? Cause you're stupid! You're a complete idiot! And worst of all, dear, darling sister of mine, is that you are a coward!"

He felt a force grasp him and quick whip of his sister's hand and he felt himself being thrown into the tree trunk. His back slammed against the trunk of the tree forcefully. His head hit the hard metal and sent pain shooting quickly down his spine. He let out a moan before refocusing on his sister still standing in front of him.

"I am not stupid, Dipper," She said, releasing the aura surrounding him. "And I am _not _a coward." Her voice softened, lowering her head. There was hurt in her tone. She looked back at him, her eyes sharp, poisonous, and piercing in their blue radiance.

"And I am going to find that book without any help from you. Then we'll see who the real idiot around here is." Her voice faltered before turning her back and heading along the trail.

Dipper stared after his sister. He could pull her back and slam her against the tree trunk as well, and he wanted to. But he knew, though he hated to admit it to himself, that his sister was more ruthless than he could ever dream to be. She was emotional, reckless, and demented. And at the same time, she was still the same sister from four years ago. The same one that left a mess of glue and glitter on the living room floor and that played her pop music so loud that the neighbors would complain. She was still Mabel, but she had evolved. As well as him, she had learned to adapt to their new, and in his opinion, better situation. He couldn't help but envy her, keeping her character after everything they had been through. Though, she was much more crazed, psychotic, and deranged than she was at twelve years, he knew she hadn't changed as much as him.

As for him, he liked to consider himself _enlightened_. Yes, he had modified much more than Mabel had, but he considered it more of a challenge. Anything to prove himself, anything to show how strong he could be. It was wonderful, discovering all the mystical secrets of this town alone. And had Mabel also forgotten who came up with the idea for the Tent of Telepathy? Well, it definitely wasn't _her_. Dipper knew his sister had no chance in finding that book and now that she wasn't holding him back, he was going to find it a lot faster.

He rose to his feet slowly, pain shot down his neck. He let out another grunt before straightening up, returning to his cool composure. He pushed back his hair, it had fallen out of place when he had been thrown against the tree. The air had grown cooler, he decided to head home.

Less than a mile away sat the Mystery Shack. Gideon had made it back with the book he found and was currently reading it under the blankets of his bed. Flashlight in one hand, the book open in the other. It was all incredibly fascinating to him, learning that Gravity Falls had so many secrets. It was intoxicating.

Tomorrow he would explore the town, he was probably going to stay far away from those woods for a while. His muscles would probably ache badly from all of his running, but it felt a bit adventurous in a morbid sort of way. He began to read a page about a sea monster until his eyelids grew heavy. He read a few more sentences before finally closing the book, clicking off the flashlight, and getting his so well-needed rest. He was still a bit shaken from his encounter from earlier, but not enough to keep him wide awake. He wondered who those two people might have been, and why on earth were they looking for that book?

But the question that disturbed Gideon Pines the most was:

_How did they know that the book was there?_


	4. Glide

Pacifica hated her braces with a blazing, burning passion.

Honestly, she didn't mind having an overbite and a few crooked teeth. Many of the other kids at school had much bigger dental problems. But her mother insisted that she fix her teeth now, so she wouldn't have to wear braces as an adult when her teeth ended up in a far worse condition.

_Ouch._

Pacifica bit into her pancakes, wincing with every chew. She could feel her gums crying out in agony. It was just awful.

She took another bite.

_OUCH!_

Her mother had promised to make her oatmeal tomorrow, that would be a lot less painful to eat. But for now, she had to endure the dreadful chewing of her hot cakes.

Another bite, her teeth bit down hard against the steel of her fork, sending rivets of absolute torture into her gums.

"AUGH!" She spat out the pancake back onto her plate, the ache of her teeth had made her lose her appetite.

"Are you alright, dear?" Her mother called from the kitchen.

"Yeah. No," She pushed her plate away. "My teeth are killing me! I don't like these braces, Mom."

"I know, baby," Her mother came into the dining room, ruffling her hair as she passed her. "It will get better in a few days, I promise."

"A few days? More like _forever_." She grumbled, taking her plate up to the kitchen counter.

Her mother smiled, picking up her car keys.

"I'll pick up some aspirin on the way home from work." She kissed the top of her daughter's head. "Have a good day, sweetheart."

"I'll try." She said smiling.

Her mother returned the smile before heading out of the front door, saying goodbye to her daughter. Pacifica waved, watching her mom drive away. She headed into the living room and collapsed on the couch.

_Can I just stay home today?_

She let out a large sigh. She couldn't stay home, unfortunately. She had to do volunteer work during her summer, it was mandatory for the students at her school to do so. And lucky for her, she got to help out at the Mystery Shack where there was usually very few customers, except in those rare events in which the store received a huge wave of customers, then she wasn't so lucky. Bud usually had her put up signs or post flyers around the town, she enjoyed this a lot since she absolutely loved to ride her bike everywhere. The feeling of the wind blowing through her hair, it was fantastic.

Pacifica ran upstairs to her room to find the perfect sweater to wear. She was going to do her very best to have a good day, even if her braces told her otherwise. She opened her closet to reveal an array of numerous sweaters, all organized by color spectrum. She pulled out the first one, which was a white sweater with a single giant red heart stitched in the middle of it. It wasn't Pacifica's best work, but it was the very first sweater she knitted. That made it one of her favorite sweaters to wear.

She slipped it over her head and fixed her hair in the mirror. She bound her long golden waves into a ponytail; this was to ensure her hair didn't tangle when the wind swept through it. The silly blonde ran down the stairs, grabbing her backpack off of the kitchen chair. She kept all her personal belongings inside there: money, a ball of yarn, knitting needles, a sheet full of silly temporary tattoos, a stapler, her cassette player, and a first aid kit.

_'You never know when you might scrape your knee!' _She always thought to herself.

She headed out into the back yard, walking her bike out of the gate. She hopped on the bicycle and headed toward the Mystery Shack.

The air was cool and fresh, the day was young and new. Pacifica pedaled along the side of the road, feeling the air run through her hair swiftly and without any regret. Gravity Falls was not much of a town, but it was nice in its own way. And heading into the woods just made things more fascinating, they say weird things happen in those parts of the town. Though, Pacifica had never experienced them herself, she couldn't help but be incredibly curious. She had heard so many stories, some that were so hilarious and exaggerated that she couldn't help but laugh; like when Lazy Susan had told her that she saw a three-headed house cat running around the town alleyways. However, some of the other stories scared her stiff, like when she overheard Bud telling Robbie about the slumped over creature he sees standing outside his window sometimes.

This town was truly an oddity, but Pacifica had never witnessed these spooky things herself. Well actually, now that she thought about it, she _had_ noticed some things that didn't seem right in this town. Starting with the time she had ran into those _dreadful_ Gleeful twins one spring afternoon.

She had been riding her bicycle as usual, when suddenly her tires came to a screeching halt. She hadn't pressed the brakes or anything, they just stopped and almost jolted her off of her seat completely. She remembered trying to get her bike going , but whenever she did it would abruptly stop again. She remembered hearing laughter from across the street. It was the first time she had seen the Gleefuls outside of a performance. She was a huge fan of them back then, before things had gotten ugly of course.

_"Oh! Hello there!" Pacifica had waved to them, stumbling over her bike pedals as he tried to dismount._

_A high-pitched shriek of laughter erupted as the sister buried her face into her brothers shoulder, muffling her giggles. Her brother couldn't help but snicker too, his hand clasped firmly around his collar. He finally regained his composure._

_"Oh, hello! My sister, Mabel, here was just telling me the most hilarious of jokes." He broke into another fit of laughter._

_"That's nice!" The blonde smiled, trying to walk her bike further, only to have it screech into the cement, unyielding. "I'm a huge fan, by the way!"_

_She looked back at the twins, they seemed much more focused now._

_"My bike seems to have broken or something." She looked back over at them._

_Mabel turned to Dipper, a smug look grew across her face._

_"Dipper, perhaps you should assist the young lady with her broken cycling device." She said, her voice a bit too upbeat for the occasion._

_"Why, of course!" He copied his sister's tone as he got up and walked across the street toward Pacifica. "Anything to help out a fan." He smiled at the blonde. She felt her cheeks grow warm at his glance._

_She had never been so close to Dipper Gleeful before, the same Dipper that the girls at school would swoon over, writing his name all over their notebooks. His eyes were violently blue and they seemed to have a glow to them, it was strange and unique to her. She could see his birthmark fully now, a perfect copy of the Big Dipper naturally formed on his forehead. He had no sense of shame, it was invigorating to her._

_He pushed the bike forward, it moved with ease._

_"Hmmm, this is quite a mystery." He looked over the bike, his thinking expressions exaggerated greatly. _

_Another laugh from his sister in the distance._

_"Mind if I ride it for a minute?" He asked, making direct eye-contact with the enamoured blonde._

_"N-no. Go ahead." She heard escape from her lips._

_He smiled and hopped onto the bike, it pedaled freely without any problems. He pedaled over to his sister._

_"Well Mabel, I think I have come to my final hypothesis on this enigma." He smirked atop the bike seat, his sister gasping for breath in all her continuous laughter._

_"And what might that be?" She finally said, her smile growing wide._

_"My telepathic abilities have reached out to this bicycle here," He patted the handle of the bike affectionately. "And it tells me that it has been absolutely fed up with the abuse of its current owner!" He shot a glare at Pacifica._

_Mabel gasped loudly, her eyes widening as she brought her hand up to her smiling mouth in a fully over-dramatic horror._

_"Oh my!" She exclaimed._

_Pacifica was heavily confused, and had a sudden feeling that the situation was going awry._

_"Thank you so much for fixing my bike, Dipper," Her words tumbled out quickly. "But I need to be somewhere-"_

_"Off to abuse this poor device some more?" He rode the bike in slow, leisurely circles around her. _

_"I didn't do anything to the bike, I love riding bikes!" She felt her eyes tear up, they were just taunting her._

_"That's not what your tortured bike told me!" He projected, accusation in his tone, he cupped his ear with a free hand. "What's that, little bike? Put you out of your misery? I couldn't do such a thing!" _

_"Stop it!" She cried out. Why wasn't there anyone to see this? Why couldn't anybody hear the commotion?_

_"Stop the pain? The endless pain?" Dipper's circling became faster, and closed in more on Pacifica. "If it's the only way out for you, poor wittle bike." He cooed mockingly._

_"STOP IT!"_

_"Don't worry, it will all be over soon." He abruptly steered the bike out of its pattern of circles._

_The rest had been remembered in slow-motion. Dipper increased the bike up to an unnaturally rapid speed, heading toward a nearby thick pine tree. Pacifica sprinted suddenly, terror painting itself across her face as she realized what he was about to do. She screamed; running, still hearing the wicked brunette's cheers in the background, egging him on. And she swore, she saw him turn back and wink at her before jumping off of the bike, letting it collide full force with the trunk of the tree. The crash was quieter than she had thought it would be. She ran up to the tree, her face wet with tears._

_She, with much hesitation, picked up the bent up deformity that once was her bike. She collapsed to her knees, looking down at the misused device; completely broken, crushed, and damaged. She felt a shadow over her, she slowly looked up._

_"It's in a better place now." The boy's azure eyes stabbed into her, a Cheshire grin stretched over his face._

_Mabel kneeled in front of her, placing her hands on Pacifica's shoulders. The blonde's head snapped up, her bitter hazel eyes met with the contemptuous navy ones of the telepathic brunette and shot her a look of raw revulsion._

_Mabel smiled._

_"Nobody will believe you." Her long nails slowly digging into the blondes small shoulders, her thick sweater prevented Mabel from drawing any blood, but it was still incredibly painful._

_"Let go! You're hurting me!" _

_A sudden voice came from the distance._

_"Hey! What's going on over there?" A young voice called from behind her._

_Mabel released her death grip and stood up, a false look of worry spread across her face._

_"Oh thank goodness, you came just in time. This poor girl rode her bike straight into this old pine tree." Mabel said to the dark-haired boy walking over._

_"My sister and I tried to call for her, but it was too late! We heard the crash and we ran over as fast as we could to make sure she was all right." Dipper continued._

_The boy leaned down to check on her, she looked up. His face was kind, locks of black hair fell across his forehead. He helped her up and asked her if she was okay._

_"Yes." Her voice was faint._

_"Oh wow, sorry about your bike," He examined the bent up bicycle. "I think I know someone who could fix this..."_

_He looked at the twins._

_"Thank you for your help, but I think I've got it from here." He lifted up the bike._

_Pacifica sniffled, not wanting to look back. She heard the suppressed sniggering from behind her, she felt her eyes well up._

_How could they have been be so cruel?_

The memory faded out as she rode up to the porch of the Mystery Shack. The ugly image still in her mind. The same ebony-haired boy who helped fix her crooked bike also worked at the register of the Mystery Shack. In fact, he was the reason she was able to help out there. He waved at her from inside the store.

"Hey 'Cifica," He smiled, beckoning her to come in. "I have something to show you!"

The blonde chained her bicycle to one of the supporters on the porch. And walked inside the store, he was re-organizing the tee-shirts on their rack. He had on a dark red plaid shirt, a trapper hat covering most of his hair sat on his head, snuggled over his ears.

"Hey, Robbie!" She watched him organize. "So what did you want to show me?"

Robbie reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a small lizard. Pacifica let out a gasp.

"This cool lil' guy!" He held the tiny lizard in his hand. "I found him just chillin' out on the vending machine and I decided to give him a tour inside."

Pacifca's face lit up, the lizard was adorable. It's big eyes stared up at her with a comical blank look. It stuck out its tongue a bit.

"You can hold him if you want," He held his hand by hers and let the lizard crawl into her open palm."I know you think lizards are cool and stuff." He smiled as he turned back to organize the shirts.

"Hi!" She said, raising the reptile up to eye level. "What's your name?"

The lizard blinked slowly and stuck out its tongue again.

She let out a giggle and set the lizard on her shoulder.

Suddenly a white-haired boy rushed through the store, quickly stuffing something into his inner vest pocket.

"Hey Gideon!" He waved at the kid heading toward the front door.

"Oh!" He stopped. "Hey!"

"Where are you off to so early?" Robbie asked, looking at Gideon with fake suspicion.

"I wanted to check out the town today!" Gideon replied, flicking one of the nearby bobble-heads.

"Good timing!" Robbie patted Pacifica's shoulder, the lizard crawled back onto his hand. "Pacifica here was just about to go into town and put up flyers for our 'Maybe 10% Off' Sale!" He let the lizard crawl back into his front pocket.

Gideon smiled at Pacifica.

"Pacifica, this is Gideon Pines. He is Bud's nephew and he'll be staying here for a couple of months!" Robbie said.

"Nice to meet you Gideon!" She shook his hand enthusiastically. "I can't wait to show you around the town!"

"That would be pretty nice, actually." He replied, fixing his hat. "I probably would have gotten lost, otherwise."

Pacifica headed behind the register counter, grabbing a large stack of flyers. She handed half of the stack to Gideon.

"I'll even introduce you to the people here. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" She grinned from ear to ear, heading out the front door. Gideon followed closely.

"Have fun you guys!" He waved out the window.

"Bye Robbie!" Pacifica waved back.

The two kids headed into town on foot since Gideon did not have a bike to ride. Pacifica didn't mind too much. Walking was easier for putting up flyers, she didn't have to get off of her bike every ten seconds.

"So what do you think of this place so far?" She asked the boy, shuffling her shoes across the dirt trail.

"Pretty," He glanced at Pacifica for a second before briskly turning away, clearing his throat quickly. "The scenery is very pretty."

"Oh, I know! I love it!" She looked up enthusiastically at the sky. "The weather is always perfect, too."

"It's kind of weird here, though."

Pacifica slowed her pace, eyes widening.

"How so?" She asked. "I mean I know this town is known famously for odd things but did you really see something strange?"

_**"TRUST NO ONE!"**_

The book echoed violently in his conscious mind. Should he tell her? He had just met her, but she didn't seem too harmless.

"Yeah, kind of..." He managed to say.

"Ooh, like what? If you don't mind me asking, I'm just very curious!" She played with a strand of her hair, looking very intensely at the boy. They seemed to have stopped walking.

"I don't mind." His heart sped up. Should he show her the book. What if she knew what it was? Could he trust her? It was making his head hurt.

_Damn it._

"Okay, I'll tell you." He gave up. "You can't tell _anyone_, though!

"I promise!" She nodded anxiously, still playing with her blonde hair bound in its hair tie.

Gideon looked both ways to see if anyone else was watching them, before he took her hand and led her toward the nearby woods.

"I found something," They headed past the trees. "I think it's really strange."

He handed his stack of flyers to Pacifica before fishing out the Red Book from his pocket, it barely fit in there. Pacifica's eyes widened at the sight of the book, she let out a small gasp.

"What-"

"I found it in the woods yesterday, I pulled some lever in a tree." He flipped through the book.

She looked at him quizzically.

"I'll explain everything later."

"No, that book looks really familiar actually." She looked at the book in a trance, as if remembering something.

"What? Really?" His voice cracked in excitement.

"Yeah... YEAH! I have seen a book like that!" Her voice rising in realization.

"No way! Where?" He could feel his heart race again, this whole situation was enthralling.

Pacifica leaned in close to Gideon, her voice in a low whisper.

_"Want to know a secret?"_


	5. Proceed to Memory

_Nod and smile. Don't be an idiot._

Gideon nodded, his face feeling warm suddenly. He never had been so close to a girl so far, it was a bit nerve-racking

Pacifica smiled.

"Well you know about those famous twins who live here, right?" Her voice low, unsteady.

"Uh, I can't say that I do." He replied his tone a twisted combination of anxiety and apprehension.

"They're these huge famous freak-magicians, they have "magical powers" and they perform magic shows every other night here," She broke her glance with him, looking down with a lowered voice. "They're kind of jerks, though..."

"Oh! I remember I saw a billboard!" He suddenly remembered from yesterday. "The _Telepathic Twins_, if I remember correctly."

"Yeah. Well anyway, I remember a long time ago I saw one of them carrying around a book just like that!" She pointed at the old text. "Except it had a number two on it instead of a three."

The boy, in a sudden flash, finally put everything together.

_"What is it Dippy? You 'fraid I might find the book without you?"_

_"Now, where did the spirits tell you the book was exactly?"_

Gideon suddenly felt sick.

"Whoa, Gideon you look really pale," Pacifica said. "Are you okay?"

The white-haired boy nodded weakly. A wave of intense fear overcame him, he looked down at the book.

"It's just..." He paused, he might as well tell her everything. "When I found this in the woods, I heard a couple of other people looking for it. They were saying something about a book, I think they were looking for this one," He gestured at the book in his hands. "They were saying they could _sense_ someone was there and that the _spirits_ were telling them things. I was so terrified."

"It couldn't have been them..." Pacifica said in a whisper of a voice. "They aren't actually telepathic, they _can't_ be."

"What are their names? The twins, I mean."

"They boy's name is Dipper and his sister's name is Mabel."

_"No, Mabel. I was just making sure you didn't get lost."_

_"You're so adorable, Dipper. Thinking that I'd get lost in these woods? How kind of you to watch out for your dear sister."_

"It _was_ them, Pacifica! I remember them calling each other those names," He raised his hand to his mouth, speaking between his fingers. "Oh my God."

"No way... Gideon, this is a lot to deal with. Maybe we should just put the book back?"

"And let them have it? No way!" He stared down at the massive text. "They already have one, so there must be a reason why they want this one as well. And from what I overheard last night, it doesn't seem like it's well-intended."

"What do you think we should do?" She looked at Gideon, her eyes dark and questioning.

"I'm not quite sure, but we'll hold on to the book for now," Gideon replied. "It might have some valuable information."

"But what if they find out?" Pacifica looked around, anxiety shrouded her expression. "They are not very nice, Gideon."

Gideon smiled and placed a hand of Pacifica's shoulder. A feeling arose in her stomach.

_Butterflies._

"I guess we'll have to investigate!" He grinned again. "I'll have to see these 'Telepathic Twins' myself, then!"

Pacifica returned the smile, still unsure. But Gideon was trustworthy, wasn't he? She had known him for less than an hour, but after revealing such a startling secret it felt like she had known him forever. She looked around uneasily, those twins could be watching any minute; looking for Gideon's book.

"We should head into town," She looked down at the stack of papers still in her hands. "These flyers won't put themselves up!"

"You're right, Pacifica!" He stuffed the book back into his inner vest pocket and grabbed his stack of flyers. "We can save the investigating for another day!"

Gideon followed the blonde out of the woods briskly, not noticing the wild tree roots again. He felt his foot catch suddenly, and fell forward onto his soft face.

"AUGH!" He let out a yell before dropping his stack of flyers, not wanting them to fly everywhere.

The blonde turned around and set down her papers, kneeling by the fallen boy.

"Gideon! Oh no, are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine."

He pushed himself up; rising, he wiped the dirt off of his shirt and shorts. He had reopened the scabs on his knees.

_Great. Just great._

"Oh dear, your knees!" She looked down at the boy's knees, they were dirty, scratched up, and bleeding.

She took off her backpack and fished through it, grabbing her first-aid kit. She pulled out and alcohol pad and a handful of band-aids.

"Here," She guided him over to a nearby tree stump. "Sit down."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm fixing your owie, silly!" She let out a laugh before applying the alcohol wipe. "This might hurt a little."

Gideon winced at the sudden sting, letting out a groan. Pacifica applied the band-aids on each knee.

"There! Good as new!" She smiled at her quality doctoring work.

"Do I get a lollipop or a sticker now?" Gideon looked at his knees, chuckling.

Pacifica returned the laugh.

"But, wow. Thank you so much!" He looked back up at her, smiling broadly.

Pacifica felt a warmth rise in her cheeks. She returned the grin and put her first aid kit back into her bag. She looked back toward the white-haired boy with the bandaged knees only to find him looking back at her as well.

Gideon quickly broke eye contact and cleared his throat loudly.

"We should head into town," He picked up the flyers. "I want to meet everyone here and I want you to introduce them all!"

Pacifica laughed and ran a hand through the blonde waves of her ponytail.

"Alright, Gideon! Follow me!" They headed briskly out of the wooded area, flyers in hand.

The woods cleared and there was silence.

A rustle interrupted the quiet and broke through into sound. The was a crunch of leaves; a disturbance.

"Well, well, well..." A light voice spoke to itself. Another rustle broke through, a blue-clothed figure descended slowly from the high tree branches onto the grassy floor.

"This is going to be a lot easier than I thought..." The wild brunette smirked, still surrounded in her aura's glow. Her eyes searing in its same green shine.

"Old man Bud's kid has the third Book," She circled her thumb around the amulet's smooth gem on her headband. "And he's got cry baby Pacifica as his little sidekick. Oh, how _fun_ this will be."

Mabel grinned, though it was followed quickly with a sharp wince from a sudden urgent burning pain inside her head.

_"You could have ambushed them. You're much stronger than both of them, Mabel. You could have had the book by now, in your HANDS!"_

_"Stop it. You're hurting me and quite frankly, I didn't ask for your input."_

_"Let me guess, saving them for later? You want to plan a special date? I saw the way you looked at that boy, don't try to fool me."_

Mabel rubbed her temples feverishly. Of course her brother would be telepathically spying on her. He was such a nosey little creep sometimes.

_"Shut the hell up. I told you that I'm doing this on my own. Stop mind-calling me, asshole."_

_"I've always enjoyed our head conversations, though. They are always very comical."_

_"Don't play Mr. Nice, I'm still mad at you. And don't interfere with my plans."_

_"I will try my very hardest."_

_"Wow, I can even detect your sarcasm telepathically. Was that another upgrade to our ultra-awesome super powers?"_

_"Now look who's being sarcastic."_

_"Where are you anyway?"_

_"Ah, I am afraid I cannot divulge that information. A true magician never reveals their secrets!"_

_"HA. HA. Aren't you quite charming with your witty one-liners."_

_"Two of a kind. For your information, we're two of a kind!"_

_"STOP SINGING THAT SONG, DIPPER! Even if it's in your dumb mind!"_

_"Like peas in a pod-"_

_"Stop."_

_"And birds of a feather-"_

_"I swear to God, Dipper."_

_"Fine, I'll leave you be. I have my own plans to attend to anyway."_

_"Good riddance. Stop mind-spying on me, creep."_

_"Toodles."_

_"Rot in hell."_

Mabel dug her teeth hard into her bottom lip. She hated when her brother did that.

The mild agony ceased, and the piercing sharpness was to her. She could phone-call his mind regularly as well, but at least she had a sense of common courtesy, unlike Dipper who was clueless when it came to being tactful. It was a bit ironic when she thought about it, Dipper always had a better sense of charm in most situations.

She rubbed the gem on her amulet softly, remembering the white-haired boy and the book. He didn't seem familiar at all, she had never seen him before. Mabel knew every person in this town, some people she had never even bothered to talk to, but just knew almost everything about them at a glance.

_I must have quite an intuition._

She let out a snide giggle.

The morning woods were quiet, apprehensive even. It was as if nature in itself knew something was about to happen, something not too good. The forest loomed, suspenseful and foreboding. Mabel let out a high-pitched whistle through her teeth as she began to stroll toward the town. Her creative ideas had immersed themselves in twisted and snarled strands of thought, of planning and scheming and envisioning.

Most of all, she was plotting. And she knew her brother was doing the same exact thing at this very moment. She didn't even need her telepathic senses to tell her that.

"Perhaps I should give that Gideon kid a warm welcome to Gravity Falls. After all, blondie said she wanted him to meet _everyone_."

* * *

**Disclaimer: The song _Two of a Kind_ belongs to Bobby Darin and Johnny Mercer, I don't own it!**

**I love you guys, and I love your kind reviews! (:**

**With love,**

**Eppie's Diner**


	6. Drawstring

"And this is Lazy Susan, she always tells the BEST stories!" Pacifica proclaimed.

Lazy Susan let out a raspy chuckle as she taped one of the Mystery Shack's flyers to the window of the diner.

"Nice to meet ya' Gideon," Susan smiled at the freckled boy. "Watch your step though, strange things happen around here in town."

"I'm well aware." He smirked as he glanced at Pacifica, she smiled back nervously.

"C'mon Gideon, you still have to meet Manly Dan and Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Darland!" She said grabbing his wrist and leading him out of the diner. "See ya later, Lazy Susan!" She called back before exiting back into the main street.

"Oh wow, that sounds like quite a lively bunch!" He laughed, thinking about how ridiculous the name "Manly Dan" sounded.

"Yeah, everyone is a bit odd around here." She smiled.

"Even you?" The white-haired boy smiled back, looking at Pacifica.

She felt her cheeks grow warm again.

"Even me." She replied, adjusting her backpack.

Gideon rubbed the back of his neck nervously and looked down at his sneakers.

"I'm really glad that I made a friend here already!" He finally managed to say, "I wasn't sure if I was gonna make any friends."

"Whatever, doofus!" She playfully punched his shoulder. "You're way too cool, of course you would make friends right away!"

Gideon grinned at his newfound blonde friend. She was so enthusiastic and excitable, he couldn't help but feel that way too, especially with this strange book in his possession and those mysterious twins on his trail. It was enthralling to think about, adventures and friendships and-

_Romance?_

He glanced at Pacifica, blushing. She was a very pretty girl, it was obvious that she was filled to the brim with an unyielding sense of optimism. Her eyes were colored with such a wonderful and earthy hazel that they could even leave an impression through the brightest of colors. Her whole embodiment had this feeling of morality and goodness that made her so much more than what she appeared to be.

Gideon shook off the feeling. After all, he had only met her a few hours ago, it was a bit foolish to start making such observations already.

They strolled past the local arcade, Gideon's eyes widened.

"Whoa! An arcade? That's so sweet!" He rushed up and pressed his face against the glass doors, trying to get a good look inside the dark building.

"Yeah," Pacifica looked down. "Hey, let's put some flyers up over on-"

"Let's go in!" The boy swung open the door eagerly.

"Uh, I'm not sure we should-" Pacifica's heart began to race rapidly.

"C'mon, it'll only be for a minute, I just wanna see!" He waved his blonde friend over.

"I'll just stay out here-"

"Don't be silly!" He exclaimed, cheerfully pulling Pacifica inside the arcade. "You afraid of video games or something?"

Pacifica stumbled into the dimly lit building, though it had been brightened by the electronic screens and flashing lights. Sounds rang through the air, the beeps and dings and whistles of the arcade games filled the room.

"It's not that, it's just-" Pacifica's explanation was suddenly interrupted by a loud clearing of the throat. The blonde girl's eyes widened to the point of terror and turned her head slowly to face the sound.

"Hi Wendy." Gideon said politely, looking at the tall red-headed teenager standing at the prize counter behind Pacifica. She wore a dark blue hooded sweater along with a dark green beanie cap resting loosely atop her head. Around her neck was a lanyard that had a key ring filled with hundreds of keys attached to it. Clipped lazily to her sweater was a name tag that just stated 'Wendy'. Her expression was different this time; instead of a dull heaviness, her face seemed to be tense and her eyes very aware.

"What are _you _doing here, kid?" She glared at Pacifica harshly. "Shouldn't you be _helping out _Robbie at the Mystery Shack?"

The blonde began to tremble over her words.

"I- uh- I was just-"

"We were putting up flyers." Gideon finished.

"Whatever," She ignored Gideon, continuing to glare at Pacifica. "I know what you're doing. You're trying to goof off on your job, I know it. And you're dragging this idiot along with you."

"Hey, cut it out! I was the one who wanted to come in here, not her!" He proclaimed.

"She's an idiot for letting you drag her in here," Her eyes darted to Gideon and quickly fixed themselves back on the blonde. "In fact, she's an idiot altogether."

"No, I'm not!" Pacifica spoke up, voice cracking at the end of her exclamation.

"Quit bullying her!" Gideon chimed.

Wendy smirked and moved fluidly out from behind the counter; almost snake-like toward the two flaxen-haired teenagers. Suddenly the intrusive ringing of the counter phone seized her sauntering. She groaned in frustration and quickly picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

The red-head's face relaxed almost instantly.

"Oh, hey babe!"

She twirled a crimson strand of hair with her finger.

"Oh no. Work is so dead today," She shot a venomous look in their direction. "You should stop by if you're done with work early."

Gideon swore he could feel his blood boil, he couldn't stand her. Why was she being so sour to such a nice girl like Pacifica? It made no sense.

"Gideon, I'm going to just wait outside." Pacifica spoke softly, her voice very faint.

"Okay," He felt a sore guilt trickle up his body. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause such a big mess for you."

"It's okay Gideon." She opened the front door and went outside.

"Love you too, babe. Bye." Wendy placed the phone back on its receiver and quickly looked at Gideon. He returned her glance with a sharpened scowl.

"What's wrong with you?" He spat. "Why did you have to go and treat her like that?"

"Mind your own business, kid. You've been here for one day and have already gotten on my bad side." She walked lazily over to the coin dispensing machine. Unlocking it with one of her hundreds of keys, she ripped the paper off of a roll of quarters and began to slowly fill it up, placing them individually down the slots inside.

"I don't care what side I've gotten on with you!" He followed her. "Why are you bullying my friend for no reason?"

"No reason?" She looked at him with a sneer. "You have no idea about anything that's going on, so you shouldn't be taking sides with that bimbo so fast."

"SHE'S NOT A BIMBO!" He felt his voice lunge out of his throat at a volume he couldn't control.

The red-head smirked again, placing more coins in the machine.

"I see the way you look at her. It's the same way she looks at my boyfriend." Her voice lifted at the end, sharpening and stabbing itself into the point she was making.

"I-"

"Robbie, being the kind soul he is, helped her fix her bike once. She's clung on to him tight ever since. She's clung on a little _too_ tight," She dropped a quarter into the machine slot, it made a loud clinking sound on its journey down. "She sees him as this huge hero now, some plaid-wearing superman. And all because he fixed her stupid bike. It's actually a bit pathetic if you ask me."

"Why do you care?" He seethed. "What's it to you if she sees him that way?"

_CLINK._

"You're not very bright, are you?" Another clink, she turned and looked at him. "Do you ever get out?"

"Of course I do." He spoke through clenched teeth.

"Then you should know, through all the movies you must have watched, that when a girl is "saved" and "rescued" by a handsome young man, she will most undoubtedly fall in love with him."

"He didn't save her though, he just helped her with her bike."

_CLINK._

"Not according to her." She turned her attention back to the machine. "Funny isn't it? How the delusional mind will twist things around-"

"Shut up."

The roll of coins dropped, sending an array of clinks to echo through the empty arcade.

"What did you just say to me?" Her eyes burned down at him.

"Did I stutter?" He burned back, focus unmoved.

Before the white-haired boy could even react properly, he felt himself falling backwards from the sudden force of the red-head violently shoving him. His head slammed against the side of one of the Pac-Man machines, causing his breath to expel a loud _'Oof!' _in the sudden force

"Get out of here you little punk-ass kid." Her voice darkened and lowered frighteningly.

Gideon sat up as fast as he could and got to his feet, backing away from Wendy and toward the front door.

"Did _I_ stutter? Leave before I call the cops!" She lunged at him again, her hands swiping to get a grip of the kid's tee-shirt, but this time Gideon was able to back out of the way.

"Okay okay!" He shouted before thrusting himself shoulder-first out of the front door.

The blaring sun welcomed him back into the outside world, the bluster of wind sweeping his white bands back from his forehead, he rubbed the aching spot on back of his head tenderly.

"Is everything okay, Gideon?" Pacifica said running up to him, she had waited over by the stop sign, putting up way too many flyers for one post.

"Yeah," He replied, not stopping his brisk pace. "Let's get out of this area."

"Oh God. Gideon did something happen?"

"Nothing."

"Gideon, your head... Did she hit you?"

"No. "

"I-"

"We got in an argument, she was saying nasty things about you and I wasn't going to let her get away with it."

"You shouldn't have done that. I'm used to Wendy's rudeness at this point."

"That doesn't justify it and make it okay!" He stopped and turned to her. "She shouldn't call you those things and treat you like that!"

"I know but-"

He grabbed her small hand and held it in both of his own. Her skin was soft; innocent. He looked into her eyes, his dark green meeting with her deep hazel.

"I'm not gonna let people make fun of you, okay? And neither are you. You have to stand your ground, Pacifica!"

Her voice quivered, her eyes snapping quickly to her hand in his. She gently freed herself and quickly walked ahead of him.

"W-we need to put up the rest of these flyers and get back to the shack." She called back, hiding the deep crimson hue spreading across her cheeks.

Gideon let out a sigh and slowly followed behind her.


	7. Soaked

_Hell is empty and all the devils are here._

- William Shakespeare

* * *

A loud shattering of glass pierced through the thin, tense air of the house.

A loud cry followed. A high-pitched, animalistic whine in frustration filled the quiet rooms.

"What is it now, Mabel?" The brunette twin asked, dully shuffling playing cards at the dining table.

"You know exactly what, you _ass_!" He heard her call from the downstairs basement.

"You're right, I do know. I am telepathic, you know." He levitated the cards, beginning to shuffle them in mid-air, taking advantage of the freedom of his hands to push back his bangs, revealing his unique birthmark.

"Yeah, so am I!" She called up. "And I can telepathically tell that you couldn't care less that I just spilled this jar of blood everywhere!"

"You're right, Mabel. You guessed correctly. I couldn't care less! _Bingo!_ _Ding ding ding! Winner! Winner! Chicken dinner!" _He lifted up the empty chair sitting across from him, levitating it with the deck of cards.

"Dipper, SHUT UP!"

_"Who's afraid of the big bad wolf..."_

"Stop that!"

_"Big bad wolf, big bad wolf?_

_Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?_

_Tra la la la la!"_

"DIPPER THERE IS BLOOD ALL OVER THE FLOOR! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW AND HELP!"

_"Long ago there were three pigs..."_

"DIPPER!"

_"Little handsome piggy-wigs..."_

"I swear to GOD!"

_"For the big, bad very bad very big wolf..."_

"My outfit, oh God, my beautiful outfit!"

_"They didn't give three figs."_

"Dipper, we have a show tonight and my outfit is covered in blood!"

"Well, that's a shame." He called back from the table

Mabel seethed, mumbling a few curses words under her breath. She was trying to summon the spirits through their downstairs radio. She had to draw a few symbols in blood before she could perform the summoning chant. But, of course, Dipper didn't screw the jar lid on correctly, causing it to open and spill all over her face and buttoned collar top.

In a sudden fury, she had smashed the jar against the floor, causing the glass to shatter in various directions and the remainder of the blood to spatter over it, giving it the dark red complexion of rare rubies. Mabel took note of this and smiled at her accidental art. She fell to her knees in frustration, running her hands through her hair.

A sudden slit of light shone on her, she looked up to see her brother peeking through the basement door. He let out a laugh.

"What's so funny?" She scowled.

"Your predicament, of course. I find it humorous." He said, walking down the stairs.

"Well, it's not. My top is ruined!"

"Don't you have like, five more?"

"That's not the point!"

"Pray tell, what is the point?"

"The point is that new boy is going to see our show tonight, and I want to look my very best."

"And you know this how?" Dipper asked, fixing his collar in a nearby mirror.

Mabel twirled a curl of hair innocently.

"Because I'm going to talk to him, of course."

Dipper snickered.

"Wow, don't _you_ have quite the ego."

"Whatever!" She crossed her arms.

Her brother smirked and kneeled down in front of her, their electric blue eyes meeting.

"You're not still mad at me, are you?" He asked.

"_Hmph!" _She stuck her nose in the air.

"I see..." He said in a tone of false dejection, adding a few comical sniffles.

Mabel smiled, scooping a handful of the bloody glass off of the floor. Dipper cupped his palms and allowed her to pour them into his hands.

"What beautiful rubies, Mabel. These can't _all _be for me, right?" He asked playfully.

"Of course they are! Besides, we can always make more!" She added, her eyes sparkling in mischief.

"We can make enough rubies to reach the stars! And even then, we can still make more."

Mabel could swear she saw a the glimmer in the reddened glass; she swore she saw it dance. Perversely comfortable in its world, like she was. In the shadows buried within her she could feel something stir, something disfigured, something full of hatred and loathing. She looked up with a spacey stare.

"I need to go change." Her voice was quicker that usual. Her hands still empty and red in front of her, she finally began to feel filthy.

Dipper watched her leave the basement slowly, her heels making a slow _clop _in every lingering step. Her slow ascend up the creaky wooden stairs and her hand gliding gently over the wooden railing. He could feel the glass cutting into his hands and he didn't care at all.

As Mabel climbed up the stairs into the bedroom the two twins shared, her gaze had been transfixed on the pair of scarlet-stained hands in front of her. She could suddenly hear the crashing of salty, foamy waves upon the sharp rocks of the shore. She could feel the wind blowing through her thick brown curls.

_Dipper, what do I do?_

She flicked the light switch on in the upstairs bathroom that immersed it in an unforgiving yellow light.

_We have to help it! Dipper! Please._

She watched the warm red water fill the sink, her eyes glued to the drain. She closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath. She could feel the sun. She could feel it pounding heavily on her back, she could smell the sunscreen on her face. The cry of the seagulls. The seagull.

_It's hurt. It's hurt, Dipper! Don't you see? _

The sand was hot. It spilled into her sandals. Hot. Hot. Hot.

_Get daddy! Get daddy to help it._

The bird let out a pathetic caw, trying to take flight and stumbling over its destroyed wing.

_Its wing is messed up, it can't fly!_

She could see the fear in her brother's eyes. He was panicking and the world became a tunnel of blue. He wanted to help the birdie, the birdie with the torn up wing.

_Something must've got it, but it got away._

The seagull's wing was bloody and tattered and barely much of a wing at all. It was limping and her brother was trying to help it. She could remember trying to hold it, only for the bird to snap at her with its beak and stumble away, leaving her hands empty and bloody.

_Daddy, we can help it, right? We can take it to the animal hospital and it'll get a new wing!_

She remembered the look on her father's face. The stoic, unmoving expression molded in permanently.

_"I'm not paying for some wild bird, Mabel. Look at it! It's not going to make it like this and it probably won't make it even if we do help it."_

_But it's hurt, Daddy! It's crying! We can't just leave it alone to die!_

Her father grabbed the seagull around the neck, its wings flapping rapidly, hopelessly. It was screaming.

_"Mabel, Dipper, I want you to close your eyes and count to ten."_

_But, Daddy-_

_"Close your eyes and count to ten."_

She saw Dipper close his eyes, she reluctantly did the same.

_One. Two. _

The cries were unbearable, strangled, gurgly with blood.

_Three. Four._

They sounded farther away now.

_Five. Six._

Then they abruptly stopped. She peeked open her eyes excitedly, maybe her dad had cured the bird and they could keep it for a pet.

_Seven._

She saw the neck of the bird; twisted, snapped, broken. It was dangling over her father's grasp; limp and lifeless.

Daddy broke its neck.

Daddy _killed_ it.

Daddy killed the bird. She watched her father wade into the waves and drop the bird into the indifferent ocean to swallow it up for eternity.

She couldn't scream, her throat felt like it was closing up. Her stomach felt sick. She felt sick, so sick.

_Eight. Nine._

The blood was still on her hands. Dead blood. Dirty dead blood. Dead bird. She could feel her stomach turn, the heat rising to her throat. She heard her brother.

_"Daddy, where's the bird?"_

_"She's in heaven, and she's very, very happy now."_

She saw a relieved smile spread across her brother's face.

_"C'mon kids, let's go get some ice cream!"_

The heat. The heat. Oh, it was unbearable. The heat from the sun, the heat in her throat, the hot blood, her hot skin. Her body heaved forward violently and she vomited.

_Ten._

Mabel broke from her memory and felt her hands grasp forcefully against the edges of the sink counter. Her stomach drove her forward once again and she dry heaved into the sink.

_Why did I think about that? I haven't thought about that in years._

She splashed water on her face, her reflection mocked her.

"It was what Dipper said, about the glass... It was the same thing he said on the beach."

_"We can find enough seashells to reach the stars! And even then, we can still find more!"_

He had said that moments before they found the bird.

"What an ugly memory," Mabel swiftly retorted at herself in the mirror. "I'll do my best to forget all about that."

She left the bathroom and opened the closet to get a new outfit top. Today was the day that white-haired boy was going to see them and she had to look her very best.

You never know when the audience might want an encore.


End file.
